Whaddya mean "the housing market"?

[Francko]

(sigh) I know you're taking the piss, but:

I don't think you should rely on Cyberman professional business and economics expertise only. You might also want to talk to Atw to complement that knowledge.

[expat]

Supply and demand innit !!

(sigh) I know you're taking the piss, but:

Supply is the number of units that all potential sellers are willing to offer at a given price.
Demand is the number of units that all potential buyers are willing to buy at a given price.

These are both curves, not single values. Where they meet gives the market price, and the market volume.

If you "remove from the market" some houses that are priced much above that market price, what you are doing is lowering the height of the supply curve at the right end (the high-priced end). If that all takes place well away from the intersection of the supply and demand curves, there is no reason to suppose that this action will affect the point where the curves intersect.

As for creating a shortage: if you take off the market something that nobody wanted anyway (at the price asked), that does not create a shortage.

[Cyberman]

Supply and demand innit !!

[expat]

Prompted by an assertion by Cyberman to the effect that removing his house from the market will push prices up, although his house is admittedly priced way above market.

What do you understand by "the market" and how would it be affected, let's say by a significant proportion, 20% being "taken off the market", i.e. no longer formally offered for sale?